TV Winners: Olympics and Regis

By Stephen M. Silverman

07/23/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

As big event as it is, Sydney's Summer Olympics are no "Survivor," at least as far as Mr. Nielsen is concerned. Ratings for the games have not been up to expectations, though NBC's delayed taped broadcasts of Friday's opening ceremony did emerge as No. 1 for the week of Sept. 11-17. Subsequent nights did not fare as well, and Tuesday's edition of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" topped the numbers received by the weekend Olympic heats. (The rating is the percentage of the nation's estimated 100.8 million TV homes. Each ratings point represents 1,008,000 households.) The Top 10:

1. "Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony," NBC, 16.2, 16.58 million homes

2. "Who Wants to be a Millionaire - Tuesday," ABC, 14.9, 15.20 million homes

3. "Summer Olympics Sunday," NBC, 14.6, 14.94 million homes

4. "Summer Olympics Saturday," NBC, 13.1, 13.41 million homes

5. "Who Wants to be a Millionaire - Thursday," ABC, 12.7, 12.97 million homes

6. "NFL Monday Night Football: New England Patriots at New York Jets," ABC, 12.2, 12.46 million homes

7. "Who Wants to be a Millionaire - Sunday," ABC, 11.4, 11.62 million homes

8. "NFL Monday Showcase," ABC, 10.0, 10.17 million homes

9. "Law and Order," NBC, 9.6, 9.85 million homes

10. "The West Wing," NBC, 8.8, 8.99 million homes